


Cunning Kindness

by ultravioletlife77



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, Supportive Ron Weasley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26843218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultravioletlife77/pseuds/ultravioletlife77
Summary: Ron can handle a lot from Malfoy - insults, hexes, cruel words. What he can't handle is... kindness. If Malfoy is being nice to them, he has to be up to something. And Ron is going to figure out what.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 12
Kudos: 392





	Cunning Kindness

“Fancy a game of Wizard's chess?” Ron looked up to see Malfoy standing in front of him. He snorted.

“Why, looking to lose?” Malfoy shrugged.

“You're the only worthy opponent, probably in the whole school.” Ron's arrogant face faltered at the seemingly sincere compliment from their once rival.

“Erm. Well, sure. You're on.”

They actually ended up playing two rounds, with both of them winning once. Both were close games. As much as Ron hated to admit it, Malfoy was right; he didn't know of anyone else in Hogwarts who could give him such a challenge. No matter how smart his girlfriend was, she just didn't have the experience with the game to compete with him. They still played regularly, but it was nothing like playing Malfoy.

“Good game, Ron,” Malfoy said, his voice kind. “Perhaps we can have a rematch again soon?”

Ron nodded, too confused to think of a response. He met Hermione's eye, and she looked just as lost.

He sighed in relief. As long as his girlfriend was lost, too.

…

The first time Malfoy had tried to apologize to Ron a month into the school year, he'd scoffed and walked out before Malfoy could even really start. Malfoy hadn't even seemed angry or annoyed, rather looked like he thought that was reasonable.

When Ron told Harry, his best friend had calmly tried to get him to see Malfoy's side of things – Voldemort in his house, fearing for his family's life, seeing how the Death Eaters tortured those who didn't obey. It took a while, several long conversations where Harry refused to give in, before Ron relented that he would _listen_ to Malfoy's apology.

The apology was long and seemed downright genuine. Malfoy didn't make excuses for himself, or hint that Ron had done anything wrong to him, and took the time to apologize for everything he'd done the past seven years. Ron still didn't like the git at all and he knew they'd never be friends, but they came to an agreement that Ron would be civil to him. There was a similar conversation with Hermione that Ron wasn't there for. But she also agreed to be civil and polite and somewhat forgave Malfoy.

The whole thing delighted Harry more than made sense.

…..

Ron looked up at a throat clearing. Malfoy was standing behind Harry with a large package in his hand. Ron raised an eyebrow at him.

“Ginny, I was wondering if you would want this.” He lifted his hand that was holding the package.

“Erm. What is it?”

“A Flash,” Malfoy said calmly. Ron choked on his toast.

“A Flash,” she repeated, flabbergasted. “I'm going to assume you mean something other than the latest model of broomstick?” Malfoy shook his head.

“No, I do mean the broomstick.” For a moment Ginny gaped at him, before narrowing her eyes.

“Why in the hell would you give me a broomstick?” She didn't even bother mentioning it was the fastest, most expensive broom yet, one that had just been released. Malfoy shrugged. Like it was no big deal.

“Well, I won it in a contest. But after riding it once, I just can't bring myself to part with my Firebolt. I wanted to give it to someone else.”

“Okay...” Malfoy and Ginny continued a staring contest, but eventually Ginny realized Malfoy didn't think he needed to offer more than that. She huffed. “I'm not trying to be rude, Malfoy, but why in the hell would you give it to _me?”_ He gave her a look like he thought it was obvious.

“Oh, I just thought it made sense to give it to the best Quidditch player at Hogwarts.” Ron grinned when Ginny flushed and widened her eyes. She awkwardly cleared her throat.

“Well then, Harry's sitting right there,” she pointed out quietly. Malfoy laughed. Actually laughed.

“Don't flatter him.” Ron opened his mouth to defend his friend, but Harry was laughing, too. Ron slowly closed his mouth. “Besides, he's not going to go pro.” Ginny continued staring at him.

“Oh, just take it already,” Harry said with an eye roll. He turned around to grab the broom, handing it over to Ginny. She looked up at Malfoy again.

“I'm still 80% sure this is some kind of trap or trick. But... just in case it's not, thank you, Malfoy. This is... incredible.” Malfoy just smiled politely and nodded at her, disappearing as suddenly as he'd arrived.

The Gryffindors hurried to finish breakfast so they could race to the Quidditch pitch. Ginny carefully tested the broom first, moving only in small lines a foot above the field. She traveled a bit higher every minute, still moving cautiously. It took 20 minutes before she finally zoomed off properly. It was like nothing they had ever seen before – she was practically a red blur in the air.

When Ron turned to say something to Harry, he realized his friend was gone. He turned around to find him at the entrance to the Quidditch Pitch next to Malfoy. Ron narrowed his eyes. The two were talking, and it seemed friendly enough.

Ron shook his head and turned back to his sister. No doubt Harry was just thanking him for the broom.

…

It was two weeks until Christmas break, and Ron hadn't found _the gift_ for Hermione yet. He'd already gotten her a few things, of course. There were her favorite sweets from Honeydukes, a small stuffed cat that vaguely looked like Crookshanks, and a quill similar to a Quick Notes Quill. This one wrote anything spoken word for word, perfect for Hermione's thoughtful ramblings or taking notes. He knew she would love all of them, and would certainly be happy if that was all she got.

But it was their first Christmas as a couple, and he wanted something really special. He knew people didn't think of him as intelligent, and definitely not sensitive. He figured Hermione didn't expect any thoughtful kind of present from him. Which was exactly why he knew he needed to give her just that.

He'd asked Harry, and they'd brainstormed some half-decent ideas, but none of them seemed good enough. He'd even asked Ginny, knowing there was plenty Hermione only shared with her. His sister had merely rolled her eyes and said that _she'd_ already gotten her gift for Hermione, and Ron had to figure out his own.

Thinking intently of everything he knew his girlfriend liked, Ron startled when a blond sat down beside him. “Malfoy,” he mumbled. The blond nodded.

“Ron. Have you bought your gift for Hermione already?” Ron flushed, both embarrassed and angry.

“Yes, of course I have. Why wouldn't I? I'm a great boyfriend.” Malfoy just nodded again, not looking slightly amused at Ron's defensiveness or embarrassment.

“I figured as much. However, I thought you might want this for her.” He held out an envelope with posh writing on the front. Ron raised an eyebrow, but Malfoy just held it out in front of Ron. With a suspicious look, Ron slowly took the envelope and found two tickets inside.

“Harrison Ball.” Ron stared at the tickets for a while before saying anything else. “It's, uh... Hermione's not exactly the ball type, you know? Wouldn't someone like Parkinson appreciate this more?” Only after speaking did he realize that he'd made an effort to not be rude about it. What the hell was happening to him? Malfoy shrugged.

“That is true. I only thought... I remember that you and Hermione had quite a row at the Yule Ball. If I remember correctly, she yelled something about you ruining what was supposed to be a great night.”

Ron felt his eyes narrowing. “So you thought we should recreate that lovely evening?” Malfoy laughed lightly. It was still odd to hear the perfectly friendly noise coming from his once-hated rival. A laugh at something _Ron_ had said.

“I thought she might appreciate a second chance at that great night. With you, this time.” Ron blinked at the boy before him. It was thoughtful, and sentimental, and something he knew, without a doubt in his mind, Hermione would appreciate. It was exactly what he'd been looking for.

“Well... thank you, I suppose.”

…

And so it went on. Malfoy and Ron held weekly chess matches, Malfoy complimentary when Ron won and polite when Ron lost. He studied with Hermione once or twice a week, and listened to the rants Ron and Harry quickly grew bored of. Even Ginny joined Malfoy for Quidditch practice every so often. 

No matter what snide or rude comments Ron made, Malfoy politely ignored them and continued being friendly. After a few weeks, Ron stopped being rude altogether. It wasn't even enjoyable when Malfoy would only be _nice_ about it.

When Malfoy offered Ron some of the sweets his mother had owled him, Ron didn't even consider that they could be poisoned or one of George's trick candies that tasted awful. The thought that he'd instinctively trusted _Malfoy_ bothered him so much he almost didn't eat any more of the candy. He still did, of course. But he'd _thought_ about not eating it.

It became a regular occurrence for Malfoy to casually offer him extra treats from Honeydukes or whatever his mother had sent him, so regular that Ron eventually forgot to be weirded out by it.

….

It bothered Hermione almost as much as him for the first few weeks, trying to figure out just what Malfoy's plan was. But after a certain point, she seemed to accept that he was just trying to be nice. Anytime Ron would bring it up she'd roll her eyes.

“I think he feels bad for everything he did to us,” she'd say. “He's just trying to make amends so he can forgive himself and be happy.”

But Ron knew it was more than that. If that was the case, Malfoy would have stopped as soon as he and Hermione agreed to a truce and forgave him. They were polite to him now, and never insulted him, and Malfoy still hadn't stopped going out of his way to be kind to them. He was obviously up to something.

…..

“Hermione.” Ron looked up at his girlfriend's name, since it was spoken by a familiar blond. They were early to Charms, as always, because their previous class was so close. “I heard you were looking for this.”

Hermione's suspicion turned to excitement as she scanned the title of the book. Ron wouldn't have been sure from the name, but the response from Hermione made it clear it was the book she'd been looking for the past two weeks.

“How- this is- Oh, my goodness.” Hermione reached out to touch it, like she thought it was a mirage. “This is incredible! I- where did you find it?”

“We had a copy of it in Malfoy Manor. When I heard you were looking for it, I went home and grabbed it.”

“Mal- Draco, that's... thank you!” Ron was as surprised as Malfoy when Hermione jumped up and threw her arms around the blond. She didn't seem embarrassed or wait around for a reaction, quickly dropping back to her seat and opening to the first page. “Thank you, thank you. I'll get it back as soon as possible.”

When Ron looked up at Malfoy, he was still frozen in shock. He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Oh, no need. Keep it as long as you like.”

“I couldn-”

“If my mother for some reason needs a book on the etymology of dragon names, I will be sure to ask for the book back.” When Hermione beamed up at him, Malfoy just smiled slightly back. Only when she was absorbed in her book did Malfoy turn, just for a moment, to Harry. They shared a small smile before Malfoy turned back to his seat.

…

Ron tapped his quill against the library table rapidly. Hermione was too absorbed in her new dragon name book to pester Ron into writing his essay, which gave him plenty of time to think about _real_ problems. Something was going on. He felt like he was one step away from cracking it, but what was that last step?

Malfoy had clearly been trying to win Hermione, Ron, and Ginny over. But _why_? At first he'd thought the guy just wanted as many allies in the Wizarding World as possible, but he wasn't going out of his way to befriend – impress? - anyone else. He was polite to all of the Gryffindors since coming back this year, but nothing like he was with them. He was focused on the three of them.

But _why?_ Did they have something he wanted? Ron had been racking his brain for ages, but couldn't think of anything. Was he trying to get the Golden Trio to let down their guard? It was possible, but again, why? Even Ron could admit that there was no realistic way Malfoy could do anything evil at Hogwarts – he had tracking spells placed on him, a parole officer, and all of his spells were monitored. He had to follow strict parole guidelines until he left Hogwarts in a few months.

Was he assuming – no doubt correctly – that Hermione would one day be someone extremely important in the Wizarding World? Maybe, but then why spend so much time winning over Ron, too? Just because they were dating? And what about Ginny?

Did he for some unknown reason actually... want to be friends? He had come to accept Malfoy's truce, but the idea that the blond would want to be friends with him was far too ridiculous.

The hand shaking the quill suddenly stopped as Harry reached out and grabbed his hand to hold it still. Ron gave an apologetic look and stopped his frantic movement.

And then there was Harry. Malfoy hadn't needed to win Harry over, even though Harry was the one Malfoy had hurt the most. Harry came straight out of the war defending Malfoy, pleading for his freedom at his trials and telling anyone who would listen how Malfoy had been forced and Malfoy had saved his life in the war. Harry had insisted that Malfoy had changed, and Harry had been the one to ask them to honor the truce that Malfoy asked for at the beginning of the term. Harry, who had once been convinced that Malfoy was opening the Chamber of Secrets, who had stalked Malfoy and accused him of plotting something evil all of sixth-year, who had recklessly used a spell could have killed Malfoy. _Harry_ was the one defending him.

It was mostly because of this that Ron was polite enough to Malfoy and honored the truce. He certainly wasn't his friend and he still didn't understand it, but if Harry asked him to be nice, he could.

But now Malfoy was being _overly-_ nice to them, and it freaked Ron out more than anything the blond had done before.

…

Ron awoke. It took him a few moments to adjust to the darkness. His eyes immediately narrowed in confusion. It was still dark, everyone was asleep. Why had he woken up? Ron was a blissfully deep sleeper, and he could count on one hand the number of times he'd woken up in the middle of the night for no reason.

He quickly looked around the room, almost immediately noting that Harry's bed was empty. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Harry must have woken him up when he went to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Harry was still nowhere to be seen. Ron had started to worry at ten. The war was over, the Dark Lord gone, but that didn't mean Harry couldn't still be in trouble. Some of his fans were absolutely mental. Who knows what some of them would do if they got their hands on him?

All at once, Ron felt a wave of dread. Something was off in the room, but he couldn't place it. After looking around for a minute, he realized that although the curtains were almost drawn all the way, he could see that Malfoy's bed was empty, too.

In a few moments, Ron had jumped up and was almost to the common room door. He hesitated when he heard soft voices in the common room. He stilled and slowly crept forward, doing everything he could not to be heard.

“Shut up, it was nice.” _Harry._ There was some movement, but no response for a while.

“I will admit, this is going better than I had hoped.” ... _Malfoy?_ Ron hesitated. It didn't sound like Harry was in trouble, so eavesdropping felt wrong. But... but he was in the common room at two in the morning with Malfoy. So Ron cast a silencing charm on the door and cracked it open, just enough to see a glimpse into the room.

Harry and Malfoy were sitting on the couch facing the fireplace, which was unlit at this hour. Ron moved closer, sure he was seeing it wrong. But... no, Malfoy had his arm around Harry, who was... _snuggled_ against his shoulder.

“Of course it's going well. It was _your_ idea, know-it-all.” Malfoy smirked and began running his hand across Harry's shoulder.

“I know this is hard to believe, but I have had a plan or two fail in my life.” Harry fake-gasped.

“I refuse to believe that.” Harry pulled back and smiled at him, and there was nothing Ron could say to convince himself Harry was looking at Malfoy with anything other than affection. “Seriously, Draco. It means the world to me, what you're doing. But you don't have to-”

“I _want_ to,” Malfoy interrupted gently. Their interaction made it clear this was a discussion they'd had before. “You shouldn't have to worry about that. Let me handle them.” When Harry leaned in and kissed Malfoy, Ron immediately turned away. He stood with his back against the wall, his mind racing. It had only been an instant, but he couldn't get the image out of his mind. Harry had kissed Malfoy like he'd done it a hundred times before, like there was nothing more he wanted to do in the world.

Ron took a deep breath. He started to go back to bed – he'd really seen and heard all his heart could take, to be honest – when Harry said his name.

“Really just need to worry about Ron, now. Ginny was sold from the broom, probably even just you telling her she's the best player at Hogwarts. Hermione's no issue now that you got her that book. Was it really in the Manor?”

“Yes, among our 3,000 other ancient books. It took ages to find it – the older ones aren't properly cataloged.”

“And I'll make sure you're _properly_ thanked for that.” Ron cringed. But he had to know why they were _worried_ about him. “Anyway, what are you thinking for Ron, now? You've been spending time and playing chess with him, gave him that gift for Hermione, done the food route.” Malfoy sighed.

“I got tickets to the Chudley match in two weeks. Can you think of a way to ask him to go that won't make him think I'm trying to kidnap him?” Harry laughed. “I was thinking I could just give them to you and him, but, still. That will come across too suspicious.”

Ron walked away as Harry started brainstorming. He slowly sat down on his bed. Well, there was the last step he wanted, and he'd cracked the case.

All Malfoy wanted to do was win them over so Harry could tell them they were together. He didn't want Harry to... _worry._ Ron's stomach churned uncomfortably at the idea that Harry was worried because of him. Was Harry afraid that he would freak out on him? Attack Malfoy? …Ask Harry to choose between them?

And if Harry had sprung it on him all at once.... would he have? He closed his eyes when he realized he didn't know.

His mind had already raced through all the arguments he wanted to use against Harry... _dating_ Malfoy. _He's a bully- son of a Death Eater- called her a mud blood- tried to Crucio you- hates Weasleys- has always made fun of us- they tortured her at his Manor- helped Voldemort- tried to kill Dumbledore- worked for Umbridge-_

He took a deep breath and stopped himself. They'd all made mistakes. They'd bullied Malfoy and his friends nearly as much. They'd all done things in the war. Malfoy had saved their lives when it mattered. He'd been cleared of all charges, with just a precautionary monitored probation. They had apologized and talked through it. It would never be undone or forgotten. But they had forgiven.

And... well, he'd seen the way Harry was looking at him. Even through a small crack in the dark, Ron had been able to see it. How comfortable they obviously were together. How happy Malfoy was making him. The rest of it occurred to him all at once – how happy Harry had been the past few months, the odd looks shared with Malfoy, the uncharacteristic worry that overtook him when Ron made a comment about the war.

Worry that Ron – Hermione wasn't really the concern, he knew that – wouldn't be a good enough friend to accept that Malfoy was, apparently, what made Harry happy.

If the roles had been reversed, Ron would have fought it. He would have told Harry that his friends needed to accept it, that his friends needed to make an effort, too, that they needed to grow up. Even he wouldn't have blamed Malfoy if he'd done something like that.

But he hadn't. Malfoy had known what it meant to Harry, had put away all his Slytherin pride and years of rivalry and put himself out on the line to make amends. All for Harry.

And if the git could do that for Harry, that probably meant Ron had to do it, too.

…

“You all right, mate?” Ron looked up from his barely touched plate to Harry, who was looking at him in concern. “Something wrong?”

He met Harry's eyes. Harry was his best friend in the entire world, even before his girlfriend. Harry had always been there for him, even when he was a dick and an idiot and a git. He'd saved him from being poisoned, almost immediately accepted him back every time Ron betrayed him or was completely unreasonable, defended him whenever anyone insulted the Weasley name, and patiently let him take years to finally make a move on Hermione.

They'd battled a _spider_ 100 times their size, robbed Gringotts, ridden a dragon, snuck in and out of the Ministry without being caught, and defeated the darkest Wizard in history.

Putting up with a git was nothing compared to that.

Ron smiled. “Nothing wrong at all, mate. I was just thinking that you might be right. I'm starting to think Malfoy isn't the absolute worst.” Harry was too surprised to hide the pure joy that spread across his face at that.

Ron definitely wasn't into blokes, but he could see what Mal- _Draco_ was thinking. He'd do a lot to see Harry that happy.

“Yeah?” Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm. Ron nodded.

“Think he'd want to come to Hogsmeade with a bunch of Gryffindors next weekend?” Ron pretended he was fully focused on his plate as he asked, but he could see Harry smiling widely as he glanced over at the Slytherin table.

“Yeah. I think he might. If you're okay with that.”

Ron grinned at his plate.

For Harry? Yeah, he could be.

**Author's Note:**

> I felt the need to write this because I read a lot of "Ron's a complete ass when he finds out about Harry and Draco together". I can see that, because he can be unreasonable sometimes. But he also didn't freak out even a little when Harry kisses his little sister without any idea beforehand that Harry was interested in her. I don't think it would have been out of line to be a little upset Harry didn't even mention it before kissing her in front of everyone. But he sees it makes Harry happy, so he just goes along with it. I like to think Ron would be the same way about Draco. Or at least not terrible about it.


End file.
